Routesafe Barangay 770: Development of a Walkingpath Recommender System for Safer Night Routes Utilizing Dijkstra’s Algorithm

Abstract

Traditionally, these algorithms have been used to determine the shortest path in terms of distance or time of travel (e.g. finding the best route for evacuation of a barangay during calamity). This mathematical model is very flexible to be applied to other urban problems. RouteSafe Barangay 770 was developed to build upon Dijkstra’s Algorithm with a focus on pedestrian safety. This walking path recommender system assigns “safety weights” to the routes instead of just geographical distance to determine the routes. In the model, nodes are represented as specific locations within a barangay, while streets are represented as edges with relevant nighttime safety variables such as crime incidence and street lighting quality. The algorithm is therefore quite good not only for geographical distance calculations but also for designing a system that can recommend the safest possible walking routes for the community at night.